


Catch Fire

by Thegirlintheredsunglasses



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer, 5SOS
Genre: AU, College AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5727874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegirlintheredsunglasses/pseuds/Thegirlintheredsunglasses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At a small English University four boys are just trying to find their way. Ashton is one of the most popular radio DJs on campus, who is trying to carve a new life out of the rubble of a troubled past. Calum and Michael are first year roommates who are trying to keep their friendship together as different directions threaten to pull them apart. And Luke, well, Luke is just trying to figure everything out. Simple, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oh Say Can You See?

Ashton

The CD tray slid open slowly and methodically with a whir so familiar he almost couldn’t hear it anymore. Actually, he couldn’t currently hear it because the levels on the monitors were too high. These movements came so naturally now he didn’t even have to think about them anymore. He was a machine. A CD case hung from his mouth as his fingers adjusted the levels, fading one song into another. His headphones were placed over one ear, the band slowly slipping down the back of his head. He used his shoulder to push his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.   
He could live and die in this studio and be happy.   
The light that signaled a call flashed and his head whipped around. He used his lanky legs to push the chair he was in to the other side of the desk and grabbed the phone.   
“Yeh mate?” He said a bit too casually.   
“Hiya, yeah. Great show tonight Marvel, I was wondering if I could make a request?” The voice was familiar, only because they called in every week. He had no idea who the voice belonged to, but the guy always made good requests.   
“Anything for my number one listener,” he said with a smile no one could see.   
“I’d like to hear ‘I Miss You’ by Blink,” the voice said.   
“You got it mate, thanks for the call,” he said before hanging up. He ran his long fingers through his light brown curls and looked for the CD in the stacks. He cued up the request and got ready to do a break.   
“You’re listening to 88.7 KSOS, I’m DJ Marvel. Up next I have a request for one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. This is ‘I MIss You’ and who knows, depending on who you are I very well might,” he chuckled before cutting the mic and starting the song. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. In this dark studio in the middle of the night was the only place Ashton felt at home. This was where he belonged. 

Michael 

He needed to stop driving and go to sleep but he couldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t have signed up for a 9am lecture but something about Anthropology seemed interesting and it was the only time the course would fit in his timetable. For some reason his mind always raced on Thursday nights. Something about working the closing shift always keyed him up. He pulled up to a red light and ran a hand through his spikey purple hair. He made a mental note to buy hair dye over the weekend. It had been purple for almost a month now, he needed a change.   
“This is DJ Marvel and you’re listening to 88.7. That last song was a classic. Green Day, of course but if you didn’t know that I don’t know why you are listening to my show. Up next I have some All Time Low and I am taking requests so if you are out there and feeling lonely, give me a call,” the DJ said. This was the only show on the campus station that Michael listened to. All the others played music he wasn’t interested in, but if Last.fm was still a thing, he knew he and DJ Marvel would be musical soulmates. He was a DJ Marvel fangirl to the fullest extent and called into his show every week to make a request. He knew who he was, but he was a year ahead and seemed light years cooler than Michael would ever hope to be. He still imagined their friendship though. He pulled up to another light and fished his cell phone out of the cup holder.   
“Yeh mate?” DJ Marvel said like he was talking to his roommate and not a total stranger.   
“Hiya, yeah. Great show tonight Marvel, I was wondering if I could make a request?” He said, like he did every single week. At this point Marvel knew him by voice. He called him his number one listener. “I’d like to hear ‘I Miss You’ by Blink,” he said. It seemed like a good pick for 1am. Marvel hung up and Michael waited for All Time Low to end so his song would come up. He promised he would head home after it was finished. He knew he wouldn’t keep that promise. Marvel came on the air and introduced the song with something clever that Michael never would have thought of. The familiar chords came through the speaker and he turned up the volume loud enough to drown out his thoughts but not loud enough to hurt his head.   
He made a left and headed toward home. 

 

Calum 

He stared at his ceiling, the fan slowly oscillating in the corner. Every so often it would blow through his dark hair and he would shift on his pillow trying to get comfortable. His laptop glowed on the desk next to his bed, DJ Marvel’s show occasionally cutting out due to the unreliable residence hall internet. He always put it on to fall asleep to, but he knew it was pointless to fall asleep until Mikey came back, he wasn’t exactly quiet. He stretched his long frame and drummed along to Green Day on the head board. If there was one thing this DJ could do it was a transition and slowly the song faded into another one of his favorites. He sang the words quietly under his breath and squeezed his eyes shut.   
He knew Mikey was listening in his car, driving in circles on his way home from work. Cal grabbed his phone from under his pillow and sent him a text.   
Good show tonight  
He knew he probably wouldn’t respond. He placed his phone back under his pillow. DJ Marvel came on to do a break and before he even said the name of the song he knew that Mikey had requested it. He always made a request around 1am. That meant he would be home soon and the Cal could finally fall asleep. Luckily he didn’t have class on Fridays, just practice, and it wasn’t until the afternoon.   
He harmonized with Mikey’s request and tried not to think about one of the few people he truly missed since going off to University. He pulled out his phone again to send the text he knew he should have sent ages ago but then realized what time it was. He had waited this long, he could wait one more day. The song ended and he started to dose off.   
“Night Mikey,” he said as the door shut.   
“Morning Cal,” was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep. 

 

Luke

His music theory essay was not going to write itself, but the later it got the more he wished it would. The lights in the library were too bright and someone was clicking their pen at the next table over making it impossible for him to concentrate. He put his ear buds back in and turned the volume up on his laptop.   
He had only recently started listening to his Uni’s student run radio station, but he had already found his favorite DJ. He was the only DJ on the station who played the music that Luke would be listening to anyway. He conveniently always seemed to be at library late on Thursday nights anyway, so it worked out. It felt like a radio show specially curated for him, although he knew that wasn’t true.   
Luke typed a few more paragraphs but lost all of his concentration when a Green Day song started. He started singing along quietly, remembering how he and his friends used to cover this song when they played their school discos.   
You’ve been thinking about ditching me  
That line hit a little too close to home.   
He pounded out a half-assed conclusion and was about to pack up when DJ Marvel came on to introduce the next song. It was a request but he didn’t say for who. As soon as the first chord started, Luke stopped packing up his things. He sat still in the library, very aware that there were other people around him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was coming.   
As the song ended and he walked through the dark campus back to his dorm, he couldn’t shake the one thought that was screaming through his mind. The one question he didn’t want an answer to.   
Did she miss him too?


	2. This is Not Who I'm Supposed to Be

Michael

He was only three minutes late to his Anthropology lecture and that was a high Michael would ride for the rest of the weekend. He was dead tired and wasn't sure he had actually slept, but he was there, and that was all that mattered. He tried to keep his mind from wandering, and this was the only class that held his attention enough for him to listen to most of the lecture. He loved people, he supposed that helped. 

Still, most of his thoughts were centered around what color dye he should pick up after class, and when he could take a nap. Cal had practice in the afternoon and wouldn't be back until dinner so he would have enough time to crash undisturbed. He really should be at the library but that could wait. It always could wait, it seemed. 

His shoulder clipped someone as he walked to the parking lot, too engrossed in trying to tab out a song he had been working on to notice where he was going. 

"Sorry mate," he said quickly, glancing up to see DJ Marvel looking back at him. 

"No problem," he said, giving Michael a look of recognition. Well, he thought it was a look of recognition. Like he heard the familiarity in his voice. He could just be one of those people who always pretended to know everyone. Radio people were like that.   
Michael didn’t know his real name, but he knew DJ Marvel was well liked on campus. At least in the Liberal Arts college. He could see why, he seemed likeable.   
Red. He was going to dye his hair red. He hadn’t done red yet, so red it would be. 

He promised himself it wasn’t because of Marvel’s beat up red Vans. 

Luke

Dorm food left so much to be desired. 

College, actually, left a lot to be desired. Luke knew that he needed to give it more time. That he just needed to adjust to the new routine, the new environment. It wasn't that he missed home necessarily. He just missed aspects of home. Food that tasted like food. Having his own room. Familiar faces. His girlfriend.   
Ex girlfriend.   
He wondered how long it would take him to get used to saying “ex girlfriend.”   
He poked at some pasta with his fork and tried to look interested in the story his roommate was telling. His roommate, Davey, was different than Luke in almost every conceivable way. Where Luke was all limbs he couldn’t control, Davey was strong and muscular. He was shorter than Luke, but Andre the giant was shorter than Luke. Davey’s long brown hair curled over his eyes in a way that made the girls in their dormitory hang out in their room much later than they would if it was just Luke. While Luke was content to sit in his room all day playing his guitar, Davey was athletic and always seemed to be moving. He was on the Uni’s club footie team and from what Luke had gathered he was pretty good. Overall Davey was a great guy. Luke was lucky to have a roommate that was normal and friendly and popular. Luke just couldn’t connect with him enough to be best friends with him. Or even good friends. But much to Davey’s character he always made sure Luke had a place to sit at meals and an invite out on the weekends.   
Luke always took him up on the former, never the latter.   
“You in mate?” It took Luke a moment to realize Davey was addressing him.   
“In?” He asked trying to sound like he was at least listening a little bit.   
“There is a party tomorrow night at the football house. Should be a mad one,” Davey said. He looked so excited.   
“Oh maybe. I might have to practice,” Luke stared at his pasta.   
“You are always practicing mate. Not that you need to, you're a legend already. Come out just this once. I promise if you hate it I will never ask you again,” Davey smiled his wide smile that probably got him voted class president.   
“Yeah man, I will think about it. Now though, I have to get to class,” Luke stood up and brought his tray to the wash bin. He didn’t have class for another hour. He didn’t care if Davey knew he was lying or not. Ultimately Luke wasn’t worried about how much he was lying to other people. He really needed to stop lying to himself.


End file.
